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HEC to issue varsity ranking in Jan
THE Higher Education Commission will issue the first-ever rankings of the public and private sector universities in January, said a member of the commissions’ quality assurance committee (QAC). Speaking at a press conference after the committee’s meeting at the University of Karachi, the QAC Chairman Dr Abdul Rauf said a draft pertaining to faculty and facilities survey was finalized during the meeting for onward presentation to the HEC, which is likely to start collecting data about all operational universities in the country soon.
After the analysis of the data collected from universities in respect of faculty qualification, research output, facilities of libraries, laboratories and use of internet, students’ enrolment and their acceptance in the job market after graduation, cost on education of one student, grading would be released in a document form for public appraisal and reference, he added.
Dr Suhail Hussain Naqvi, member of HEC, present on the occasion, added that the rankings would be issued once in a year with the objective that public confidence with regard to standards and quality of teaching and learning in each department of a particular university is given a boost.
According to Dr Naqvi, the new grading mechanism for Pakistani universities and degree awarding institutes had been finalized after studying similar systems of international standards adopted in some other countries, but at the same the local ground realities have also been kept in mind. The grading system would also help know the deficiencies and recommend remedial measures, added Dr Abdul Rauf, saying that this would help achieve excellence at the seats of higher learning.
The vice-chancellors Dr A K Q Rajput of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Lt Gen (retd) Mumtaz Rajput of Peshawar University, Dr Najma Najam of Fatima Jinnah Women University, and senior officials of HEC, Dr Riaz Qureshi, M Jalil Ahmad, Zulfiqar H Gillani and Zia Batool were also presented during the press conference.
Invites research proposals
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has invited research proposals of up to Rs6 million under its recently launched University-Industry Technology Support Programme (UITSP), said an official statement on Monday.
These proposals should be in research domains which would lead to a significant economic impact and contribute either to export enhancement or increase quality and productivity of products, it said.
This UITSP has to be initiated either by a public-sector university or degree awarding institution in the private sector recognized by the commission in collaboration with a relevant industry. The research grant would be given for a maximum duration of two years with a budget of up to Rs6 million.
This programme is focused on industrial sectors where the country is already a major contributor to world trade, to sectors where there is high potential for international trade with a lot of competition and sectors which need developments both for local and international consumption.
The UITSP of HEC proposes that researchers preferably with PhD degrees and affiliation with international professional bodies collaborate with local industry involved in continuous manufacturing for tangible results in terms of improvement of product and processes leading to decreased import of raw material and increased export of finished products and processes.
Water purification
Director-general, Environment Protection Agency, Sindh, Shafique Ahmed Khoso, has said that the government is considering to set up water purification plants in seven districts and filter plants in 16 districts of the province.
In a meeting held in Larkana on Monday, the DG expressed concern over leakage of drain water in the Dadu and Rice canals. He said that people residing at the tail of the watercourses used polluted water for drinking and subsequently suffered from different water-borne diseases. — Sci-tech World Report
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